A Note from our Club President Tommy Hatcher

As we start a new year I just want to thank all of you for the vote of confidence to elect me as your president for another year.  I see an exciting year ahead of us and I think each one of you will enjoy it.

We will be branching out to another level this year. At the board meeting several ideas were presented which I will discuss later on and I’m glad to see the out of the box approach to help with our creative ideas. 

As our founder Frank Jarboe stated in one of the meetings a few months after I joined, and the club was less than a year old, his vision was we would be a club where each of us could learn, broaden our ideas and help each other grow in photography. After all these years I think I can say his vision has been greatly fulfilled. 

I once took a class at Shutterbug with Frank as the instructor. At the end of the class he ask if we knew if there was a camera club in Bowling Green and we said no, so he invited us to attend a meeting to discuss the possibility of creating one. From that point on I have been hooked on this club. We have undergone a great many changes since that early beginning, some good, some just plain bad. Over all though, the good ones have far outweighed the bad ones and we are stronger today as a result.

Frank also stated how Bowling Green needed a camera club after going to the state fair and seeing the display. I quote him, “Bowling Green has as good of photographers as any place in the state.”  I say we have the best photographers in the state.

So much for the rambling I could go on for hours on how the club has helped me grow as a photographer and what I have seen in other photographers. 

A few things discussed at the board meeting were:

• A first for the club. We will be hosting a reception on February 2, 2019 after the Mike Moats workshop. This is our first venture working with other clubs in the area. I feel this is a good idea since we could possibly get guest speakers to come in.
• We will be doing the Girl Scout Camp photo shoot again this year, probably this fall, with a few workshops available prior to the actual photo shoot.
• Another first for the club. We are going to have a Jamboree this year where we invite area photo clubs to participate in an event similar to the Girl Scout Camp photo shoot. More to come on this.
• Of course, the mini groups will continue and I encourage each of you to participate in the groups that might interest you. Step outside your comfort zone and go for it and experience a new learning opportunity. We are not limited to the groups we have listed, we are open for others if you want them. If you would like to join a different one or coordinate a group please present it to one of the officers for approval. After discussion with the board, we all came to the agreement that any mini group are to remain family oriented. 
• A change in the monthly meeting order will be used going forward. The first 20 minutes the mini group coordinators will have stations set up to discuss what they have in mind and answer any questions about the group.
• We will purchase a set of speakers to go with a tuner/receiver that was donated to us. This will provide a much needed improvement to our sound system and we can also use them on other outings.
• I encourage each of you to create a presentation of your work so the club can enjoy your efforts. If you take a trip, be sure to create a slide show so others can see what you experienced. If  you need help creating the slide show, we have several members who can provide some good direction, just ask one of the officers.

In closing I once again want to thank you for the vote of confidence to be your president for another year. Remember this is your club and we'd love to hear about any ideas you might have.